Washington (February 28, 2025) – Small Business and Entrepreneurship Committee Ranking Member Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) on February 26 delivered opening remarks during a committee hearing on the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) flagship 7(a) lending program. 7(a) encompasses the Community Advantage Small Business Lending Company (CA SBLC) program, which serves small business owners in underserved communities, levels the playing field, and provides capital for people who have difficulty securing it elsewhere. Ranking Member Markey warned against attacks on programs like Community Advantage. Watch the full opening remarks HERE.
Democratic witnesses included:
In his remarks, Ranking Member Markey said: “SBA has a responsibility to address the inefficiencies in private lending to support true competition. It is the government’s responsibility to make sure that there is capital for all entrepreneurs, regardless of background. The Biden administration understood this. They doubled the amount of small dollar loans, maintained a healthy 7(a) loan program, and ensured a 99 percent repayment rate. My witness here today from Massachusetts, Ms. Guerrero, is a clear example of an entrepreneur who just wanted to serve her community, but struggled to get the funding to do so. She was unable to receive funding from her community bank, who is also an SBA lender, and she did not have generational wealth to rely on. That’s where Common Capital, a Massachusetts-based lender in SBA’s Community Advantage program, stepped in. Thank you, Ms. Guerrero for taking the time to share your experience with the committee. Your story is just one example of why SBA programs, like the Community Advantage program, are so important.”
Mr. Lanza-Weil noted: “Common Capital serves a four-county region with 820,000 residents. Our annual operating budget is just shy of $2 million. Even though we are a small organization serving only a fraction of the state’s geography and population, Common Capital is the leading SBA Microlender and SBA Community Advantage lender in Massachusetts… Our continued success, and the success of the small business community in Western Massachusetts, depends upon the availability of SBA Microloans and the SBA CA program. I urge you to continue supporting the Community Advantage program, and to expand it so that more mission-focused lenders like Common Capital can increase access to capital for low-to-moderate income and low-wealth entrepreneurs.”
Ms. Guerrero remarked: “I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and entrepreneur in Massachusetts. I am honored to be here to talk about my experience with the SBA Community Advantage loan through Common Capital. My business is Colorful Resilience, a mental health clinic that provides outpatient mental health services to Black Indigenous People of Color, Lesbian, Gay Bi Trans Queer, and others with various sexual and gender identities, immigrants, first-generation people, and our allies… The SBA Community Advantage loan changed my life and the lives of many others. I am grateful that this program exists and was lucky to have access to it. Please continue to provide organizations like Common Capital with the support necessary to make businesses like mine possible.”
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